What effect would elevated circulating levels of cortisol, a hormone from the adrenal cortex, have on the pituitary secretion of ACTH?
What effect would elevated circulating levels of cortisol, a hormone from the adrenal cortex, have on the pituitary secretion of ACTH?
Cortisol is the primary stress hormone which helps to increase the sugars i.e. glucose in the bloodstream and enhances our brain that uses glucose and increase the availability of the substances that repair tissues inside the body. Cortisol also inhibit functions that would be harmful in a fight-or-flight situation.
Adrenocorticotropic hormone is created in the corticotroph which is present in the anterior pituitary gland. It is secreted in several intermittent pulses during the day into the bloodstream and transported around the body. As cortisol, levels of adrenocorticotropic hormone are high in the morning time when we wake up and it falls in the day time and is lowest during sleep. This is called a diurnal or circadian rhythm. Adrenocorticotropic hormone once reaches the adrenal gland, it binds on the receptors that are causing the adrenal glands to secrete more cortisol, which results in the higher levels of cortisol into the blood. This increases the production of the chemical compounds that triggers an increase in other hormones such as adrenaline and noradrenaline.
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